Chapter 8: Into the Night…

"Essentially, the Mark VII is made out of a hybrid of the metal that this complex is made of, the hybrid version making it lighter and stronger," Dr. Lincoln said as he walked around the four suits. "Most of the hardware has remained the same physically, although there have been some amazing technological advancements applied. The crystal layer is still present but with a more conductive liquid and your OS is capable of monitoring all of the radio bands, target over two thousand individual enemy units, the thousands of other operations keeping your suit running, and just about anything else you could ask of it. This suit needs no AI, it can do it all on its own." Will walked into the room and examined the lifeless Mark VII standing rigid. No major design changes had been implemented between the Mark VI and this new version, although the lines seemed smoother and, surprisingly, the actual metal plates seemed thinner. But other parts of the armor were obviously new. Instead of the olive green color that all the other iterations were painted, this version was the same grayish-white metal that surrounded them and the face mask was no longer gold but instead was the ice blue color that the ODST facemasks had.
"What's with the color?" he asked, somewhat alarmed.
"It's a smart metal, it'll sense it's surroundings and shift it's color to match the environment you're in. There are also some preset camo schemes that are basics like forest, desert, urban, and arctic."
"Incredible…" Kat whispered as she ran her hand along the smooth metal.
"I'll get the techs to help you change over," Lincoln said and he left the room quickly. Will popped his helmet off and rubbed his free hand through his hair.
"I don't know, it just doesn't seem like such a big leap over the Mark VI, unless there are more things that he never told us." Lincoln walked in with a small group of technicians trailing behind him. They immediately moved over to the Spartans and directed them to special stations outfitted with robotic arms to aid in the removal of their armor. One by one the Mark VI was disassembled and placed on straining tables. The Spartans were stripped down to the thin black suit they wore under the crystal layer and even that needed to be removed. It was an awkward period of time as the four Spartans turned away from each other and put the new, more padded, under suits on. The Spartans were then led over to the suits and there the techs started to dismantle them until all that was left was black layer that housed the hydrostatic gel and crystal AI layer. They were handed the suit, put it on, and zipped the back and crotch up. After that, they were handed a part of their armor one by one. Boots, gauntlets, thigh pads, all of it was new and alien to Will but at the same time it was as if he had worn it since he was a child. In almost no time, the techs handed him his new helmet and left the room. Shifting it uneasily between his hands, Will walked over to Mark VI. As he moved over there, he was surprised at the lightness of the armor and how nimble he felt just moving a few feet in a straight line. Unlike the previous versions where, even with all of the servos and the natural strength of the Spartans, they could still feel the heft of the armor, the Mark VII was almost weightless on their bodies. Will set his new helmet down and looked at the now old looking Mark VI. He noticed all of the pits in the metal, the paint scratches, burn marks, and every other assault it had withstood. Setting his hand on it, he said goodbye to it and popped the Mark VII helmet on. Fitting snugly but incredibly comfortably with the extra padding they put inside of it, diagnostics started running instantaneously. Most were over within a few seconds and were able to be run in the background while the major ones ran right in front of his face. Instead of the usual set-up that floated in the air, his vision was completely blank as the computer checked its targeting software. Suddenly, the familiar blue HUD winked on and Will glanced over it to see that there were no noticeable changes.
"If you guys are all set, we're ready for you in the cryo-chamber," Dr. Lincoln said, leaning in through the door. Will looked at the others who were looking back at him.
"Let's do this."

"We'll be doing a slow frost to prevent any long term cell damage but you won't notice the difference because we've added an anesthetic to the normal liquid you always take." Lincoln's face contorted his face as they were walking while he wracked his brain for anything else he needed to tell them. "Regarding thawing out, it will most likely be a quick and hectic one. I most likely won't be around when that happens so I can't really tell you what'll be going on." Lincoln swiped a card in front of another reader and walked into the large room. Arranged in rows of ten each, cryo-tubes were positioned back to back against each other at a slight angle. Most of the tubes were frosted over, but a few had small open spots on the glass that afforded a view of a slumbering Spartan encased in their brand new Mark VII. At the end of four of the rows were open tubes with technicians readying up the concoction that the Spartans would need to drink to prevent their internal organs from collapsing in on themselves. Lincoln stopped at the beginning of the tubes and left them to their own devices. Will noticed Kat's silence during the recent events and opened up a private comm channel with her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a lot to take in."
"I understand, see you on the other side."
"Same." Will walked up to the technician who was standing behind a small cart. Bottles of different chemicals were sitting on top of it and they had apparently all been mixed into a potent smelling solution. He popped his helmet off and set it down onto an open space on the table and downed the horrendous tasty liquid. Grabbing his helmet, he put it back on and slid into the tube, already feeling the anesthetic kicking in. At the same time, his lungs began to wheeze and his stomach turned as the chemicals began to expand to fill the gaps. The door closed in front of him a whistled loudly as the seal pressurized and a thick cloud of fog swirled around his feet, chilling his body. Within a few more seconds his neck loosened up and his neck slumped backwards.